Switching Up Liquor Stores
Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: SE and then South some more
Posts: 2,648
Totally relate. I also had to hit the grocery store on almost a daily basis. OR I'd hit the liquor store right up the street because I needed specialty cigarettes.........well, might as well grab some wine while I'm there at 10:30 in the morning, why not?
So glad I am not living like that any more. So sad.
So glad I am not living like that any more. So sad.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Dallas, Tx
Posts: 2,405
I live in an area that up until 2 months after I quit drinking (go figure) was dry so I had to go out of my way to buy wine and I frequented 3-4 different places because I did not want to look like I had a problem. I don't think I fooled anyone.
dopeless hope fiend
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Here. Now.
Posts: 1,021
haha. I remember doing just that. I even had an ongoing conversation with the clerk at the liquor store nearest my house about how much my roommate and friends drank, which explained my 2-3 trips weekly to that locale. lmao
Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 67
Switching up stores? Yep, I rotated between the supermarket and the little independent shops. Loved it when the spouse would buy cases of wine at the Costco. That meant I didn't have to shop for the next week or so.
As for taking out the trash, I always tried to be careful so the bottles wouldn't clink when I was taking them to the curb. My neighbors across the street are teetotalers and I was always freaked out that they'd hear the racket.
It's a really satisfying feeling now when I realize the only glass bottles or jars that go in my recycling now used to contain fruit or spaghetti sauce.
ddog
As for taking out the trash, I always tried to be careful so the bottles wouldn't clink when I was taking them to the curb. My neighbors across the street are teetotalers and I was always freaked out that they'd hear the racket.
It's a really satisfying feeling now when I realize the only glass bottles or jars that go in my recycling now used to contain fruit or spaghetti sauce.
ddog
Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: far far from home
Posts: 373
HAHAHAHAAHAHAH
Disposing of the bottles...In sobriety I no longer know which dumpsters in my town are locked and which ones are open so I can dispose of a bag of empty bottles that I have hidden in my trunk.
Disposing of the bottles...In sobriety I no longer know which dumpsters in my town are locked and which ones are open so I can dispose of a bag of empty bottles that I have hidden in my trunk.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 36
God, I know all about this. It's especially true in Ontario where you can only buy from government liquor stores, so there are fewer to choose from. I've driven half an hour to different towns just to go to a different liquor store. I also remember pulling up to a recycling depot at night and leaving garbage bags full of empty bottles at the gate.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: ny
Posts: 6
Oh jeeze I can relate to this...sometimes I would switch it up. It feels so weird going into the same place every few days and getting my Captain Morgan....I always wondered what they are saying to them self about ("oh look who's back again").....
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by Chops 
HAHAHAHAAHAHAH
...In sobriety I no longer know which dumpsters in my town are locked and which ones are open
...In sobriety I no longer know which dumpsters in my town are locked and which ones are open
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 48
No shame here I never rotated LOL....and mine too would have my smokes ready laying on the counter...they even knew that I was the bud light and marb lights and my friend that was always with me was the coors light and camel lights.....
and i went at all times of the day...didnt matter. Hey it was a 7-11 they weren't judging they just wanted my $$$$ I went there because it was the closest....
and i went at all times of the day...didnt matter. Hey it was a 7-11 they weren't judging they just wanted my $$$$ I went there because it was the closest....
Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 60
My husband laughed when I got sober. He was sure my liquor store had an extra case of tequila in the stock room and they didn't know why. I switched from tequila to ice cream and he was sure they couldn't figure out why they couldn't keep ice cream in stock.[/CENTER]
part time member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,910
This thread brings back all those memories....nightmares...how to buy and how to dispose of the empties...so glad I don't have to do that any longer. Actually I haven't even been to the grocery store in weeks. Trying to eat all the stuff in the cupboards up!
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 1,591
LovesToTravel, you mentioned eating up the stuff in the cupboards, do you mean you would lose all concept of what was actually already available, and then waste and waste and waste. I did that. I won't go too far down that road either 
But very related to the rotating stores and empty bottle shame so many of us went through. Something I notice is a lot of people keep saying "Thank god I don't have to live through that anymore" on this sort of secondary thing, compared to the major suffering inside that comes with addiction. But I understand for sure, because it's one of those "extra pluses" to be rid of! Kind of like the little things count, the small reminders, etc.
But very related to the rotating stores and empty bottle shame so many of us went through. Something I notice is a lot of people keep saying "Thank god I don't have to live through that anymore" on this sort of secondary thing, compared to the major suffering inside that comes with addiction. But I understand for sure, because it's one of those "extra pluses" to be rid of! Kind of like the little things count, the small reminders, etc.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Raleigh NC
Posts: 100
I probably hear the same story at 90% of speaker meetings i attend. I did the same thing. I was a wine drinker so I had lots of places to get my wine and I think I had 5 places I would use. Hell, it was just getting to hard to drink
Member
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Bristol TN/VA
Posts: 12,431
............hope you all don't mind a little story from the other side...
I met a man who invited me for dates a few times, he would invariably be late..then he would want a couple of quick beers to relax from his day. After that he would ask me to drive because he had had a coupla and had a prestigious career to protect....a couple blocks down the road he would ask me if I would mind going in the store and picking him up a 6 pack since he had bought one "last week" and he had that career....LOL..
one day I threw something in his trash can, I was in the kitchen, he was nearby in the LR..I have no idea what I was doing but for some reason needed to retrieve something I had thrown away or etc, who knows...he heard the trash rattling and came in in a panic demanding to know what I was doing? WTH?
Yeah, I figured it out pretty quickly. LOL
I met a man who invited me for dates a few times, he would invariably be late..then he would want a couple of quick beers to relax from his day. After that he would ask me to drive because he had had a coupla and had a prestigious career to protect....a couple blocks down the road he would ask me if I would mind going in the store and picking him up a 6 pack since he had bought one "last week" and he had that career....LOL..
one day I threw something in his trash can, I was in the kitchen, he was nearby in the LR..I have no idea what I was doing but for some reason needed to retrieve something I had thrown away or etc, who knows...he heard the trash rattling and came in in a panic demanding to know what I was doing? WTH?
Yeah, I figured it out pretty quickly. LOL
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,649
I relapsed frequently for a period in AA after I first joined and darned if AA didn't ruin my liquor store shuffle. I first chose a meeting very far from my neighborhood to start with. That way I figured I wouldn't run into anyone from that other neighborhood AA at my neighborhood liquor store.
Then I added another AA meeting close to another one of my liquor stores. There went that liqour store as an option. Same thing with two others. Then I went to my neighborhood AA and that was the end of all my options unless I wanted to drive 40 minutes to buy a beer.
Of course eliminating liquor store options is not what finally helped me to quit, getting a sponsor and starting the steps, finally reading the big book and immersing myself wholeheartedly in the program is what caused it, but there was more than one time that I didn't go into a liquor store because I was worried someone from the rooms might see me go in!
No, that is not how AA is supposed to work, but it kept me from drinking more than a few times...
Then I added another AA meeting close to another one of my liquor stores. There went that liqour store as an option. Same thing with two others. Then I went to my neighborhood AA and that was the end of all my options unless I wanted to drive 40 minutes to buy a beer.
Of course eliminating liquor store options is not what finally helped me to quit, getting a sponsor and starting the steps, finally reading the big book and immersing myself wholeheartedly in the program is what caused it, but there was more than one time that I didn't go into a liquor store because I was worried someone from the rooms might see me go in!
No, that is not how AA is supposed to work, but it kept me from drinking more than a few times...
Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: IL
Posts: 81
This is a good topic! I used to always buy my booze at a supermarket because that is where I could find the low grade vodka at 9.99 a 1.75 I used to rotate buying my bottle before/ after work so that I would only have the same workers checking me out 1x a week or so. I would consume a 1.75 about every 2 1/2 days
Thriving sober since 12/18/08
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 3,115
There's one grocery store in the state allowed to sell liquor (it's illegal otherwise, you have to go to liquor stores to get liquor usually), which was ideal for me when I was a drunk. Lots of different cashiers to choose from, it was added on to my normal grocery reciept so no more hiding cash away to buy liquor from the liquor store! Unfortunately I didn't even stop to think about it much once I realized that all of the cashiers knew my birth date by heart, having checked my ID that many times... Disgusting!
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: NJ
Posts: 20,458
I was thinking about this thread this AM as I placed out my recycling....can't get to the "big can" it's buried in a 4 foot snow drift...I used cat litter containers and boxes from the liquor store...just call me Ms. Svedka..there was no hiding the bottles under empty cans of Friskies.
In NJ you're limited to liquor stores only, they don't sell anything in the grocery, but i see everyone has had their own elaborate little plan....(and i thought i was so original).
I panicked for a bit today, when i thought i needed to go to the liquor store for a spare BOX for recycling until the snow melts (any port in a storm, hmmm)?...but then I realized I could get a nice one from office supply delivery at work....and i did it's sitting with my coat so i don't forget it....i hate this snow.
In NJ you're limited to liquor stores only, they don't sell anything in the grocery, but i see everyone has had their own elaborate little plan....(and i thought i was so original).
I panicked for a bit today, when i thought i needed to go to the liquor store for a spare BOX for recycling until the snow melts (any port in a storm, hmmm)?...but then I realized I could get a nice one from office supply delivery at work....and i did it's sitting with my coat so i don't forget it....i hate this snow.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 1,591
Fandy, your concentration on details to work on (getting rid of crap, cleaning, etc) reminds me of myself. Never thought I would lean more to the neat freak side again, but it did happen, ha ha, thank god. Each thing to work and each method feels important. If it works to keep a physical or mental list of things you have "nabbed" then do that. I wasn't 120% happy with things every day after quitting, but I now had visual signs around me to keep my spirits up and to keep going. These details around the house all have to do with our dignity (like our bodies), so that explains to me why they are so important to us.
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